Thirteen things an editor does

In light of my post yesterday 🙂 For everyone who’s ever wondered what an editor’s job might include, or thought you might like to be an editor. All thirteen are as it relates to manuscripts. It would take more than thirteen to list EVERYTHING an editor does.

1. Look for spelling and grammar issues (I’m going to get that one out of the way right now, since that’s usually what people believe is the extent of the editor’s job).

3. Point out info dumps, lack of backstory or areas that don’t make sense/aren’t clear.

4. Plug the plot holes, baby.

5. Tell you your characters sound alike, aren’t distinctive, is a bitch, is a wimp, isn’t developed enough.

6. Laugh at your typos. (I hate it when he fingers her folders, don’t you?)

7. Make you cut, revise, add and otherwise fiddle the story to shore up those areas of slow pacing that might put the reader to sleep.

8. Let you know when we’re not sure WHOSE head we’re in.

9. Tell you nicely when your worldbuilding is weak, doesn’t make sense or is non-existant.

10. Point out when your timeline has your characters experiencing the same weekend not once, not twice, but three times.

11. Cheerfully lets you know that somehow, someway, you’ve given the hero three hands and made the heroine ultra-flexible. Oops. Choreography.

12. Tell you all the parts that they loved, made them laugh out loud or are otherwise wonderful.

13. Makes your book even better than it already was. Now really, what more can you ask for? 😉

14. (because I just have to be different) Give you a contract for your book because we believe in you, we love your work, your writing, your characters, your story…we love the way you turn a phrase, throw in humor or write smokin’ hot sex. We’re your editor because we just really groove on you as an author and don’t forget it, k? Even when we’re doing numbers 1 through 11.